


Day 4 - Buried Alive

by fanfictiongreenirises



Series: Whumptober 2020 [4]
Category: DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Buried Alive, Cave-In, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Don't copy to another site, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Tim Drake is Robin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:27:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26815087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfictiongreenirises/pseuds/fanfictiongreenirises
Summary: Things go wrong when Dick and Tim go on a cave tour.No 4. RUNNING OUT OF TIMECaged |Buried Alive| Collapsed Building
Relationships: Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne
Series: Whumptober 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947217
Comments: 20
Kudos: 202





	Day 4 - Buried Alive

**Author's Note:**

> lol let's pretend this isn't past oct 4 in my timezone ~~it's been a bit of A Day~~
> 
> Warnings: buried alive, blink and you miss it suicide ideation
> 
> Disclaimer: don't own dc <(^_^<) <(^_^)> (>^_^)>

THIS FANFICTION IS HOSTED ON **ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN** , WHERE YOU CAN READ IT FOR **FREE**. IF YOU’RE READING THIS ON A DIFFERENT WEBSITE, IT WAS POSTED THERE **WITHOUT** THE AUTHOR’S CONSENT.

_“_ _Go!”_

That had been the last thing Dick had yelled before the middle of the cave had collapsed, piling the centre of the only path out with rocks and dirt. Dick had jumped backwards, but had still been showered with dirt as the entire underground system threatened to give way.

Dick coughed as dust blew into his face. He lifted his shirt up to cover his mouth and nose, and wheezed as he tried to breathe. His eyes were screwed shut as tightly as possible, but they were still stinging from the initial spray they’d received. Dick could feel the clods of dirt rolling down over his body, though the actual cave itself seemed to have tentatively stabilised.

He hoped Tim was okay on the other end. Their cruise ship had docked for the next few days, which was lucky, because he’d been going absolutely stir crazy cooped up, despite all the activities available.

Dick had seen the way Tim’s face had lit up at the sight of the ‘historic ghost tour’ brochure, so _obviously_ he’d booked tickets. It’d been much too long since the kid had shown more than vague interest in _anything_ ; Dick was determined to try and distract him as much as he could.

Finally, there was complete silence all around. Dick blinked rapidly to rid his eyes of everything that had gotten inside them, resisting the urge to rub them. He let out another few coughs, spitting out as much as he could, though the dirt and dust had mostly rid his mouth of saliva.

And then Dick looked around himself.

He’d told the tour guide that he had experience in search and rescue, had told him to go with Tim. But it was only because of the cave in, and Dick shoving Tim and their guide out of the way, that had led to Dick being separated from both the others and the exit.

Dick couldn’t see anything around him; it was completely pitch black. He fumbled around and grabbed his phone out of his pocket. He received a faceful of bright light as he turned it on, relieved to see that the battery was only about half depleted.

He was less relieved to see that there was no signal, but not surprised.

Dick turned on the torch, shining it around him. There was the giant pile of dirt and rock to his left; on his right, the path went deeper into the cave systems. Dick chewed on his lip and then grimaced at the taste of grime.

In the end, after another glance to the wall separating him and Tim, Dick went right. His injuries made themselves known as he stood up, gashes on his arms and possibly another long scrape down his back. He couldn’t feel blood dripping down from it – and it wasn’t like he had any supplies on his person – so he ignored it as best as he could.

Dick had only taken a few steps when there was another tremor and the earth moved beneath his feet. He stumbled slightly, reaching out with a hand to brace himself against the wall in an effort to stay upright, but it was no use.

Large clumps of the cave was now falling all around Dick. He shielded his head with his arms as best as he could, staying on the outskirts of the path as much as possible to avoid being squashed or knocked out.

He had to stay conscious. Who knew what he’d wake up to if he was knocked out – or _if_ he would. He needed to at least be able to dig himself out.

Piles of dirt and rock crashed all around Dick, hitting his arms and shoulders, the parts of his back that was turned up towards the cave roof. He sneezed a few times as the dust flew everywhere, eyes itching like mad but being unable to do anything about it.

The debris was definitely coming up to about mid-shin right now, but Dick was only relieved. He’d been bracing himself for much worse, considering even having to hold his breath as he dug himself out of here, or died trying.

And then there was silence again.

Dick slowly moved his aching arms back down, cautiously turning his head. He blinked rapidly in an effort to get the dirt out of his eyes, shaking his head back a little to rid it of the debris. A wall collapsed, sending up a cloud of dust, and Dick suddenly couldn’t stop coughing. He bent over, still half twisted, as he tried to get out everything that had settled inside his lungs and airway.

Finally, when Dick was _sure_ that he wouldn’t be able to go without breathing for another moment, the coughing fit died down. Dick sucked in careful breaths of oxygen, swallowing hard as his throat tickled.

This part of the cave wasn’t that deep to begin with – they were practically at the surface, and there were barely any rocks around now. This section was mostly manmade, people digging into the dirt before hitting the rock. Dick was lucky they hadn’t gotten trapped in the crystal section of the cave. He didn’t want to think about those giant stalactites falling all around him; the chances of making it out of that alive were slim to none.

Dick bent down and began digging his legs out. Once that was done, he looked towards the exit once again. Maybe going through wouldn’t work, but going upwards might. There was little space there now, and the giant pile of rocks and earth that had covered the entrance had grown now.

Dick exhaled slowly, and began digging.

He hoped there was someone on the other side digging as well. He hoped Tim had gotten out alright.

Surely this would’ve made the news? A cave this popular collapsing would no doubt be covered by media in the area. There were bound to be rescue services outside, looking for anyone trapped in here.

Unless it was too unstable, and they couldn’t.

Either way, Dick had to keep going, for as long as he could. He couldn’t rely on outside rescue, not entirely.

* * *

He didn’t know how long he’d been digging for, but he was thirsty like never before. His fingers had been stinging from the constant scrape, but now they were just numb. Dick didn’t look at the bloody tips; ignoring them was so much easier.

His phone would be able to tell him what the time was, but what would be the point? It wasn’t like it would change anything now. He just had to keep digging.

Eventually, Dick had to stop. He could barely keep his head upright now, tired from the slow decrease in oxygen levels, his injuries, and the exhaustion of digging. But he couldn’t stop, couldn’t just give up like that.

 _But what if you did,_ a part of him thought, a part of him that Dick had hoped had disappeared. He’d wanted it _gone_ , had thought that this trip had fixed that up.

But it seemed otherwise.

Dick shoved it down, and focused on the giant wall in front of him, fingers burrowing into the dirt robotically. Any time he found himself scraping at a rock, he would go around it, looking for a direction that gave way easier. At this point, Dick could have gotten turned around a million times over and would have no idea.

He thought he was hallucinating when he heard the voices. He ignored them, breathing in steadily through his mouth and then exhaling through his nose.

And then there was a piercing white light, and Dick flinched back, falling on his back with a stifled cry as the scrapes and gashes along his body made themselves known. He could hear himself breathing, loud and harsh against what was now no longer silence.

“Hey!” Dick tried to call out, but was immediately forced into another coughing fit. Even then, he tried to make it as loud as he could, in the hopes that it would at least be heard until he’d finished and could shout for himself.

There was a pause in the noise, and Dick hoped as fiercely as he dared that it was because they’d heard him, and not because they’d gone in a different direction, or, the worse-case scenario, that they were actually just a figment of his imagination.

He tried yelling again. “I’m over here!”

He _hadn’t_ imagined it – those were definitely footsteps coming towards him.

“Stand back, kid!” a voice warned. “We’re knocking this down. Hang tight.”

Dick shuffled back a metre or so, the relief settling into his bones at the sight of rescue. He’d only just closed his eyes; the next time he opened them, he was in the back of an ambulance.

Dick frowned as he came to, wondering what had grabbed his attention. He knew it hadn’t been naturally regaining consciousness – he was still much too groggy for that—

“ _Dick!”_

Dick’s head jerked up, pulling at the oxygen mask over his face that he hadn’t noticed until now. He pawed at it with awkward hands, trying to get it off to call to Tim.

But Tim had apparently realised where he was; his head popped up right beside the stretcher Dick was on.

Dick gave him as big a smile as he could manage, trying to sit up. He was just so _damn_ relieved at the sight of Tim, alive and well. The thought of him being trapped in there had plagued him all day.

He finally removed the mask, waving away Tim’s look of concern as he sat up.

“Hey,” was all he had to say before he had his arms full with Tim, who’d flung himself at him.

Dick was still getting over the fact that Tim, _Tim_ , who was usually so hesitant about initiating physical affection, had leapt at him like this, that it took a while for him to process the mumbling.

“Hey,” he said again, this time much softer. “What’s wrong?”

“You shoved me away,” Tim said into his shoulder. “I would’ve gotten out just fine, you idiot. But you shoved me away and you didn’t get out and we all thought it was a lost cause but I pulled billionaire’s son status on them and _made_ them and I…” His grip spasmed a little.

“Timbo,” Dick said, rubbing his back a little with his wrist. “I’m fine now. Nothing happened.”

“Dick, you were in there for _seven hours_ ,” Tim said.

Dick grimaced. The thought of that would hit him at some point later, when he wasn’t groggy from the exhaustion and drugs, but for now, it was just a fact.

A paramedic cleared his throat, making Dick look up. He hadn’t even realised that he was nodding off again, still leaning against Tim’s wiry frame.

“Is there an adult we can release you to, sir?” he asked.

Dick drew back, looking at Tim.

Tim was nodding. “Yeah, our dad. He’s… I don’t think they’re letting anyone in, but he’s the one who’s making all that racket outside.” He glanced at Dick now. “My phone died before he arrived here, and I didn’t want to leave to go get him.”

“That’s alright. What’s his name? I’ll have them let him in.”

Dick faded in and out while Tim sorted out Bruce being allowed inside, and all the paperwork involving the ambulance. He was apparently given a few prescriptions, antibiotics to prevent infections, but he wouldn’t find out about that until well into the next day.

The very next thing that Dick was aware of was Tim shaking his shoulder.

“Hey,” Tim said. “Now’s probably a good time to wake up. I can hear B coming.”

Dick yawned at that, but sat up again before trying to stand upright. Bad enough that Tim had seen him when he’d first been brought in – still being in the stretcher would only result in a worse case of mother-henning from Bruce as well.

 _“Tim?”_ he heard Bruce’s yell before he even knew where the man was.

And then Bruce’s giant figure stepped in view of the doors of the ambulance, face a ghastly white. There wasn’t room for him to step in, but Bruce seemed to make up for it by drinking in the sight of them hungrily.

“Bruce,” Tim said, just as Dick greeted, “Hey, B.”

“You’re both alright?” Bruce asked.

Tim refused to let go of Dick’s waist as they stepped out of the vehicle. Dick’s muscles protested loudly as he stepped down onto the ground, and it was only once he was outside that he realised his shirt had been removed and there was a leg of his pants that had been cut off.

“We’re fine,” Dick said, trying for a smile.

Bruce narrowed his eyes at him and turned to Tim.

Tim waved a piece of paper. “I have everything you could possibly need to know, as well as prescriptions and a list of doctors in case things go south,” he said.

Bruce nodded, before he, too, wrapped his arms around both Tim and Dick.

Dick had never been in a group hug that had involved Bruce _or_ Tim. He stood there for a moment in pure astonishment, before his outside arm gingerly wrapped itself around Bruce. He could see Tim doing the same thing, the look on his face mirroring Dick’s thoughts perfectly.

“Are _you_ okay?” Dick asked.

Bruce huffed. “Fine,” he said. “I saw it on the news. And then I got Tim’s phone call saying you were still in there, and...” His voice trailed off, and his arms tightened briefly before letting go. “Come on, let’s get back to the hotel. You both need sleep.”

Dick let out a breath of relief at the thought of sinking into a soft mattress and being dead to the world for a solid ten hours. Tim’s arm wrapped around his waist once again, but this time it was accompanied by another as they stepped towards the rental car.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!
> 
> This is also [cross-posted on tumblr](https://fanfictiongreenirises.tumblr.com/post/631055293642670080/day-4-buried-alive)


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